Cuts Can Be Traced To FF Mistakes

At the outset of the debate this evening it is important to recognise the overall financial and budgetary context that Ireland is operating in.

We are relying on funding being provided through the EU/IMF Programme of Support for Ireland for the provision of our day to day public services, including funding for our education system, as there is nobody else that will lend Ireland the money it requires at an affordable interest rate.

It is also worth reminding the House that this difficult situation has arisen from the catastrophic mistake by the last Fianna Fáil government to inextricably link Irish sovereign debt with the debts of bankers and speculators when it introduced the ill-fated bank guarantee in September 2008.

We would not be debating this or other cuts in public spending if Fianna Fáil had lived up to their responsibilities in government. Years of profligate, irresponsible spending, funded through debt and borrowing, were matched by economic policies which cost Ireland’s economy our competitiveness and reputation as a good place to do business.

All of this was subsumed to the higher aim of a cynical strategy geared at winning elections. I have no doubt that the failed policies of Fianna Fáil have landed us in the economic mess we are in. The biggest challenge facing the present Government is to step back from the edge of national insolvency.

Now, having brought our country to the verge of ruin, what does Fianna Fáil - which likes to style itself as ‘responsible’ opposition party - actually do? They act as if we are in normal times, opposing virtually every measure the government has to take. You would be hard pressed to find constructive proposals from Fianna Fáil to find savings in education, other than vague references to getting more out of the Croke Park Agreement.

Fianna Fail is behaving like the Lady Macbeth of Irish politics, shouting “Out, damn'd spot! Out, I say!”.

You do not come into this debate with clean political hands tonight however.

As a former Minister for Education, Deputy Micheál Martin knows that almost 80% of my budget goes on pay and pensions. He also knows that we have to find places and teachers for the additional 70,000 pupils coming into our schools over the next six years. And he knows that we have to reduce the numbers working in the public sector.

What the public would like to hear from Fianna Fáil is where they suggest savings in jobs and spending can be made in education. What teaching posts would they suppress, what grants would they reduce or abolish and what other measures would they take? They cannot pretend they don’t have the basic data on which to base their recommendations – they were long enough in government to know how the education system is staffed and funded.

We will await their recommendations with interest.
In the meantime, it is absolutely essential that we close the funding gap between what we take in from taxation and what we spend on our day to day services. This year that gap will amount to €18 billion euros which is almost double the entire budget for the Department of Education & Skills. Last December’s Budget will, it is hoped, close that gap by a further €3.8 billion and reduce our deficit to 8.6% of GDP by year end.

We cannot be under any illusion about the serious situation in which we find ourselves. As I have said on many occasions, our finances must be put on a sustainable footing so that we can re-enter the financial markets in order to continue to fund our public services and restore our country’s economic and social well-being.

Achieving savings in my Department’s budget has required very difficult decisions to be made particularly at a time when the school going population is increasing. And we want to be as fair as possible in making those decisions.

A key part of our overall budgetary strategy is a requirement to reduce the public sector payroll. Reductions in the public service pay bill and staffing numbers will continue to play a part in expenditure consolidation.

One third of all public sector employees in this state work in the Education sector, so it is simply not possible to completely exempt staffing levels in education from the Government’s need to reduce expenditure.

The Budget which was agreed in December was challenging for all of us. We made difficult decisions. And there will be more difficult budgets - next year, and the year after.

But there is also hope. Just last week, the NTMA successfully returned, temporarily, ahead of time, to the bond market. That is the first sign that markets believe we will be able to stand on our own two feet by the end of this programme.

We need to build on that as a Government – to continue working to get people back to work, to protect those who cannot afford to pay their debts, and to build upon all of the best features of our education system.

I have heard much in recent weeks suggesting that there is an urban/rural divide in Irish politics, or that the budgetary measures enacted by this Government represent an attack on rural Ireland.

I completely reject those suggestions.

I may represent an urban constituency, but nobody in Ireland could fail to appreciate the importance of rural communities to our society.

Small rural communities represent a cornerstone of Irish heritage, and it’s important that modern Ireland continues to represent the importance of these communities.

In recent years, they have been threatened, not by overt political action, but by the ever increasing trend towards urbanisation in the developed world. Agriculture is no longer our dominant industry, though it is an area in which this Government is once again focussing attention as we try to help get people back to work.

In many rural communities, the school, church, GAA club and local shop are the institutions on which the community is built – these are foundations which we must seek to protect.

But the continuing trend towards urbanisation does continue to pose a threat to these foundations, and that is a threat which we cannot ignore. If populations in rural areas continue to decline, we must stand ready to adapt.

In many communities, this trend has already seen the closure of the rural shop or pub. We must now have a genuine conversation about the role that can be played by rural schools, and how we can reshape our school system to ensure that these communities are supported and maintained.

This debate this evening gives me an opportunity to state categorically that this measure is not about closing schools – schools which I have acknowledged play an important part in our communities, particularly in rural areas.

Small Schools

There was no increase in the budget in the general average of 28:1 in our primary schools – something which many people had called for.

But the budget did include a phased increase in the pupil threshold for the allocation of classroom teachers in small primary schools.

The only thing that is changing for small schools is that their average class sizes will no longer be as advantageous as they have been in the past due to the phased increases in the pupil thresholds in the staffing schedule.

The existing staffing appeals process will be accessible to small schools. In particular, those schools which are projecting increased enrolments that would be sufficient to allow them to retain their existing classroom posts over the longer term. The details on how this will operate will be made clear as part of my Department’s forthcoming circular. It will issue shortly to all schools on the staffing arrangements for the 2012/13 school year.

It is not sustainable for my Department to continue to provide a second classroom teacher to a school that has 12 pupils.

Can anyone honestly say that we can afford to have a staffing schedule threshold that provides for a full-time classroom teacher with an average as low as 6 pupils per classroom – a better ratio than applies in most classes in special schools.

Of course, some teachers in these small schools will call for these exceptionally favourable arrangements to continue, but how fair is this to the taxpayer or to their teaching colleagues in medium to larger schools – some of whom have to teach 30 or more pupils in their classrooms?

Even when all of the phased increases are implemented, the threshold for a second teacher at 20 pupils will still be significantly lower than the minimum of 28 pupils that was required for the appointment of the second teacher in rural schools prior to the late 1990's.

The extremely favourable staffing provision for small schools was put in place when resources were plentiful and at a time of demographic dividend when enrolments were falling.

This is no longer possible given our budgetary constraints and rapidly rising school population.

I know that no school likes to lose a teacher and that the INTO and teachers like small classes. However it is wrong for a desire to preserve the status quo in teacher numbers and class sizes to result in anxiety in local communities over the future of their schools.

Let me say it loud and clear again. This measure is not about closing small schools.

When the staffing schedule operated on much higher levels in the 1990’s we did not have a plethora of small schools closing.

There are situations where schools might, of their own choosing, decide to amalgamate. I would like now to encourage communities to have conversations about whether this is possible or appropriate.

The changes announced in the Budget are being phased in over three years to allow exactly these conversations. My Department will be available to engage with all schools and communities who wish to make proposals about potential amalgamations or clustering arrangements between schools.

Last Friday, speaking at the Irish Primary Principals Network Conference, I undertook to enter into discussions with them about international research and possible 21st Century options for small rural schools that exist in different countries.

Small schools do close, yes, but that is because of a loss of pupils. Small primary schools that have had to face closure in recent years were those that were no longer viable due to falling enrolments. The enrolment in such schools had typically fallen below an average of 8 pupils for two consecutive school years.

School communities should have no reason to feel that there will be a forced closure of their local school. If any school community thinks otherwise my Department will engage with the School Patron and Board of Management on the issue and address any concerns.

When I was speaking last week at the IPPN annual conference, I made clear to them that the budget measure on small schools will be proceeding as planned.

However, my Department is open to considering any practical and workable proposals that will bring about greater efficiencies in the management and governance arrangements for small schools. My Department will be engaging with the relevant stakeholders on this issue.

Value for Money Review on small primary schools

The Deputies in this House will be aware that a Value for Money review on small primary schools is currently underway in my Department.

This review was initiated by the previous Government and is part of the normal processes undertaken by all Departments on selected areas of expenditure and is being conducted in line with the standard procedure for value for money reviews. As the report was initiated by a Fianna Fáil Minister, I trust that that party will not now respond by creating fear amongst communities about this process.

I expect that the report of the review should be available to me in the next eight weeks. I will then have to consider its outcomes and proposals.

Among the issues that will be taken into account in the review are questions such as availability of diversity of provision, ethos of schools, parental choice, the language of instruction, travel distances, transport costs and the impact of schools on dispersed rural communities.

The review will examine the locations of small schools relative to each other and to other schools of a similar type. It will also examine the costs of running small schools and the educational outcomes associated with small schools.

It is also necessary to consider the needs of local communities and wider social and cultural factors. Public consultations were conducted as part of the review in order to obtain the views of stakeholders. A large response was received and a common theme from the submissions from the public on the review was the important role that schools play in the social fabric of rural communities and this something that all of us are fully aware of.

The value for money review is simply about evaluating all the facts to inform future policy in this area. Educational quality for the students must be one of the main criteria in any consideration of primary school size.

However, it is important that the staffing levels in our small schools are set at an affordable and sustainable level particularly in these very difficult and challenging times.

Many of you I am sure have fond memories of your own time in small schools when class sizes were much larger. I would suggest that you are more likely to remember the name of your School Principal or teacher and the quality of education that they provided rather than the number of pupils that sat beside you in the classroom.

When the review is published I intend to lay it before this House to give an opportunity for Deputies and Senators to have a wide ranging debate on its outcomes and proposals.

The Government will make time available for this debate and I look forward to hearing views and contributions from each of you on this issue. This debate can help to inform our decision making process in relation to the implementation of its outcomes and proposals.

Reforming our public services

As a member of the Labour Party, building and protecting our public services has always been one of my core beliefs.

However, we also have to ensure that our public services are affordable and sufficiently flexible and adaptable to meet the needs of Ireland in the 21st century. In essence we have to be able to achieve more with less.

The Government has committed to achieving the necessary savings in public spending required by reducing the overall number of public servants.

That means improving our health system with fewer nurses and doctors, maintaining our infrastructure with fewer engineers and architects, and yes, educating our children with fewer teachers.

Conclusion

At a time of great strain in our public finances we have to ensure that the very valuable but limited resources available to the education system are used in the best way possible.

As we have stated in the counter motion before the House this Government is trying, as best as possible, to protect front-line services in the education sector at a time of rapidly rising enrolments in our schools.

This Government rejects the sensational claims that are being made about closing small schools. The only thing that is changing for small schools is that their average class sizes will no longer be as advantageous as they have been in the past.

I have trust and confidence in the capacity of School Principals and teachers to play their part in making the best use of their available resources to achieve the best possible educational outcomes for their pupils.